Wardrobe hatbox



Sept. 179 11929. A. w. wlNsHlP WARDROBE HATBOX Filed A112;- 15. 192'7 2Sheets-Sheet l Sept' 37, 1929. A. w. WlNsHlP 1,728,223

wARDRoBE HATBOX Filed Aug. 16, 1827 2 sneets-sheet 2 W MWWM% PatentedSept. 17,` 1929 UNITED sTATIEs PATENT OFFICE:

\ mam' w.`w1NsH1P, or' UrrIcA, NEW Yong WARDROBE HATBOX` J Applicationfiled August 16, 1927. Serial No. 213,410.

a Wardrobe hand-carrying case or wardrobe hatbox which is small enoughto be readily carried by a Woman, but of such construction andarrangement of its parts that a wardrobe compartment is provided.`

A further purpose is to provide an article of the class described whichis of new and improved construction and well adapted to 16 be used forthe purposes'intended; land further to provide in such a constructionand specially combined therewith a new and improved clothes-rackandmounting therefor, so that the Clothes-rack occupies the least 20possible space when the case or liatbox is closed and still extends theclothes for1 ready access and inspection when the article of baggage isopened; `and further to provide a Clothes-rack of the type describedwhercin the clothes-rod or holder is readily removable from the rack andas readiljy insertedl therein when the clothes-rack isextended; but isheld securely in position when the Vclothesrack is closed andfurthergto' provide in such a Clothes-rack a. clothes-rod or' holderof'such construction and so mounted in the clothes-rack that itwil1minimize any tendency of the clothes to'slip from the rack.

, Further purposes and advantages of my' invention will appear from thespec'lfication and claims herein. i Fig. 1 is an /isometric view'of awardrobe hand-carrying case known as 'a hatbox embodying my inventionwith the cover opened and .with the clothes'rack in extended position.

Fig. 2 is a Vertical sectional view through the said wardrobe hatboxclosed.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the parts immediately belowline 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged Vertical secti'onal i view ofthe Clothes-rack and adjacent part of the c'over as seen on line 4-4 ofFig. 3. Fig. 5 is a right hand 'side elevation of the right hand bracketof the |clothes rack when it is in raised position with the adj acentpart of the cover shown in section.

Fig, 6 is a front elevation of a modifiedv form of my invention With thecase opened and Fig. 7 'isc a Vertical sectional view vof such caseclosed.

Referring` to Figs. 1-5 of the drawings in a more particulardescription,it Will be seen that my wardrobe case or hatbox consists of a box-likecase 8 and a cover 9 hinged thereto, it being understood that said partsare pf a construction suitable for articles of portable baggage. It Willbe understood further that the combining of a- Wardrobe section into orwith a hatbox is done in such V manner as not to greatly reduce theamount of space in the box available for 'hats and other articles ofclothing in'trays or compa-rtments, and thatthe Wardrobe compartmentismade L-shaped in outline when the box is closed, so as to make theeffective length of the wardrobe compartment long 'enough to supportladies dressed or men7s clothes When once folded and yet to not increasethe size of the hatbox.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 5. The main case 8 consists of a. bottom10, relatively narrow front 11, a. back* 12 higher than the front 11land opposite slantin sides 13-13, extending from the front to t e back.The front 11 and the back 12 are so termed asl that will be the relativeposition of those parts When the hatbox is open as it is seen in Fig. 1.To the upper edge of the back 12 is hingedthe shallow'flange 51 of thecover 86 9. The upper end of the cover as the arts are seen in Fig. 1has a. front or top flange 14, as much higher than the flange 51, as the'back 12 is 'higher than the front 11 of the main case. These twounequal flanges 51 90 and 14 of the cover are connected by slantingfianges 15-15. VVhen the cover 9 is closed down upon the case arectangular box in Vertical section is obtained as ap ears from Fig. 2.Ordinarily when thev hat 0x is 'thus ?5 L closed, it will be stood up asappears in F ig. 2 with the back 12 of the case servin as the bottom ofthe whole article. The ront of the case is provided with ahandle 16 andsuitable catches 17 are provided With their chamber or well 19 attheback of the case into which hang the'lower portions of dresses or-othergarments 20 foldedA over the clothesrod or holder 21 which in turn ismounted in the clothes-rack generally denoted by the numeral 22, securedto the upper part of the 'cover 9 as seen in Fig. 1.

Preferably a removable par'tition 23 ex-' tends from the fixed partition18 to the front 11" to aid in holding in place a removable tray 24 ononesidezof said partition 23. A hat or hats may be placed in'thexchamber to the left side of the removable partition 23 and other.articles of clothing may be placed in'the chamber to the right of saidpartition, below the tray 24. If `desired the tray 24 and also theremovable partition 23may be removed in order that this part of thecase.

1. i may house one or more very large hats.

Thel clothes-rack 22 is composed of opposite'pmetallic sides 25 and 26at the left and right respectively connected by a wooden strip 7. In thefre ends of this clothes VM'''ack t ere'is normally supported t-heopposite ends of the clothes-rod or'holder 21. Preferably metallioplates 28-28 are placed on` the inner surface of the ,slanting coverflangesl slightly down from-the ,top 14 of the cover. To each oneofthese plates there `is pivotally secured as by pi t 29 the oppo- Q6 ofthe' clothes` site sides or brackets 25 vand rack.

Fig. 4 shows a plan or side view of the left *hand plate 28 and thebracket 25 secured thereto. iAt the upper' part of the bracket 25 asseen in Fig. 4, said bracket-is provided with an ear 30 `projectinglaterally to afl'ord means of readily fastening the brace 27 to thebracket as by rivets 31. Near the outer end of the side orI bracket 25of the clothesrack 22 there is provided an angular, preferably squared,hole 32 adapted to receive thev ,correspondingly shaped end of theclothesrod or holder 21 and keep said rodl 21 from rotatiion. The righthand side or bracket 26 of. the clothes-.rack is similar 'to the bracket25 in construction and pivotally mounted except that as appears fromFig. 5 said b'racket 26 is provided near its outer end .with anelongated slot 33 having van openingv 34 thereinto at its upper side.The rod 21 is rern/ovably mounted in the clothes-rack 22 by insertingthe squared left hand end of said rod longitudinally into the squarehole732 in side' or bracket 25 of the rack whereupon the squared end ofthea'ight handv end'of the rod will be passed downwardly through the'opening 34 into-;the elongated slot 33 of the right hand braeket 26.The wooden strip i 27 being rigidly secured to the ear 30 of bracket 25and to similar ear 30a on bracket 26 holds the two brackets 25 and 26 toswinging movement in unison and further braces the said brackets-Inturned ears 35 on the lower end of the plates 28 stop the downwardmovement of the clothes rack 'at open position as shown in Figs. 1 and4. The clothesrack may be swung to upward and housed position as shownin Fig. 2 by swinging said rack upwardly on its -pivotal connections.

Releasable spring locking means are providi ed to aid in holding theclothes-rack in such upward position. Such means may consist of aninwardly extending boss 36 upon each plate 28 so placed as to engage -ahole or depression 37 in the sides or brackets 25 and 26 when theclothes-rack is raised to housed position. The said brackets will yieldenough to allow the outer surface of said brackets to ride past the boss36until the hole or de- In a similar obvious'r manner this spring latchmcchanism may be disengaged by pulling the clothes-rack downwardly.

A block 38 is provided in the cover near its upper right hand corner soas to bear against the rod 21 near the `bracket 26, when theclothes-rack is in raised position. This block accordingly prevents thisend of the rod 21 from leav'ing the elongated slot 33 when theclothes-rack is raised;

Ladies dresses or men7s clothes may be placed one or more at a' time inposition over the clothes-rod' 21 when the clothes-v rack 22 is inlowered position. The size and proportion of the parts of.. thiswardrobe hatbox is such that an ordinary dress will hang free over saidrod making a single fold of the clothes at their center and with theopposite ends of the clothes hanging freely into the well 19. Anotherconvenient way of loading the rod 21 is to place the desired number ofdresses or other garments one on top ofyanother in' extended or flatposition and then pass the clothes-rod 21 underneath the center of thepile of dresses. By raising the rod 21 the whole pile of clothes willfall to folded position on the 'opposite sides of said rod and may thenbe bodily placed in the wardrobe compartment as already described withreference to the separate rod 21. lVhen the desired number of garmentshave been placed over the 'rod 21 the clothes-rack will be swung up tonpward position and the clothes. 20 will be confined more or' less byupper and lower tie straps 39 and 40 preferably elastic and convenientlyprovided with detachable hook fasteners. The wardrobe hatbox is thenready for its final closing motion of bringing the cover down upon thecase, or what is the same of bringing the case up 'to the cover so thatthe parts come to the closed wardly to closed position,

partition 18 prevents the contents of the other part l`of the body ofthe case from pressing against the Clothes in the well therebeneath.

By having the Clothes rack swing upthe full height of the raised coverand the full depth of the well 19 Can be utilized for hanging theClothes straight down on the Clothes rod 21 without such Clothestouching the bottom of thewell .after the rack 22 is raised and whetherthe hatbox is closed or open. The

several inches of'straight hanging space gained by this constructionenables 'the Wardrobe compartment in the hat box to bc large enough forfull sized Clothes.

Preferably the Clothes rod 21 is covered with felt or velveteen 41 whichovercoines any tendency of the Clothes to slide either Way off from therod.

Figs. 6 and 7 showja modified form of my invention in that the hat boxis made of a circular Case 42 and a ci-rcular cover 43 both flattened asis usual with round hat boxes to form a suitable base and also thehinging line. 'The case 43 slants up towards its rear edge where thecover is hinged thereto and the flattened portion 44 of the flange ofthe Cover is narrower than the rest of the flange of said cover asappears from F igs. 6 and 7 In this form of my invention the Clothes rod45 is not mounted in a swinging Clothes rack but is removably mounted inleft and right hand brackets 46 and 47. The bracket 46 is rigid and ismounted on the upper part of the flange of the cover and is providedwith a square hole to receive 'by endwise movement of the .rod 45 theleft vhand squared end of the rod. The right hand bracket 47 has one endfastened to the flange of the Cover 43 but has its other and lower endresilient so as to be temporarily pressed back towards the flange ofthecover to allow this squared end of the rod to enter a square hole inthe resilient end of the bracket. l/Vhen the bracket is allowed tospring back to its normal position it holds the rod 45 securely.

In Ithis form of hat box the well 48 in the case is formed not by asolid partition but simply by a transverse rod 49 clefining the top ofthe Well.

It will be understood that every inch added to the effective height ofthe Clothes 'supporting rod above the bottom of the Well during packingas well as during the closed position adds two inches to the rigidly `inFigs. 1-5) length of Clothes that can be carried by the case due to theClothes being folded once over the Clothes supporting rod.

Preferably I form the body and cover of the case so thatthe case is, asit were, divided or-cut on the bias with the shallow side or back flange51 of the Cover hinged to the back high wall 12 of the body as the partsare seen in F igs. 1 to 5 or with the corresponding narrow flange 44 ofthe Cover hinged to the back high wall of the Case 42 as the parts areseen in Figs. 6 and 7. This construction, characterized by' theconsequent slanting sides of the body Yand the slanting side flanges ofthe Cover, Was made for several reasons and is of more importance thanat first appears in obtaining Co-operation of the parts and in order toobtain certain advantages and avoid cer-;

tain disadvantages.

The height and thickness of a handcarrying Case are Very definitelyfixed if the Case is to be practicable to carry and every inch of theheight 'and thickness of a case of such practicable size must beutilized to carry dresses wardrobe style, that is, hung up, even whenfolded over once intermediate their length and given one 'other bend togo into the well of the case.

At the top of the cover the flange should be deep enough to hold thedoubled layers of the dresses near the Clothes supporting cross bar 21but at the bottom of the cover it is better to reduce the width of theflange very considerably. The' depth thus taken off of the cover isadded to the dcpth or height of the well in the body of the Case and sowhen the case is in opened position gives greater clear height for thedresses to hang straight down into the well from the rod either in itslowered or its raised position.

``For Clothes of a length approaching the capacity of the Case theClothes will touch the bottom of the well when the rod (assuming it tobe of the m'ovable type as suggested is in its lowered or loadingposition, but when the rod is raised toxits real car'rying position thebottom ends of these Clothes are lifted just clear of the bottom of thew ll by reason of the two, or two and a half inches more or less gainedin the well by the narrow flange at the bottom of the cover.

Furthermore, by reason of the narrow 'flange at the bottom of the coverthe Clothes flange fat the bottom of the 'cover is so narrow that noappreciable bend is imparted to the clothes.

'- The narrow flnge at the bottom-of'the cover and the consequent heightadded to the w'ell allows as much height during pack-' ingandunpackingas is gotten the carrying'position andthis effective helghtduring packing and unpacking is fully as necessary is closed.

as suflficient height or extent when the' case Another advantage gainedby the narrow flange towards the bottom of the cover is that the userhas a better opportunity to arrange the edges of the clothes neatlyprepzeiratory to stra'pping them back into position cause she can'bothclearlylsee and easily reach the edges of the clothes opposite thenarrow flange which would not be the case ;Were the flange two or threeinches deep. 4

The narrow fiange at the bottom of the cover' as distinguished from adee flange allows the clothes to hang down rom the elevated rod close toa substantial level or uninterrupted flat packing surface,l the up'- pertwo-thirds or so being the fiat inain inner surface of the cover and thelower one- 'third being the back or highside of the well.

`A`deep flange at the bottom of the cover would create a step inthispackin surfaceand make an extra angle in the clot es When arranged inthe vcase. The width of this narrow bottom flange vas I show it is notenough to interfere with the aforesaid; flat packlng surface desired.

The presence ofl the flange thouguh narrow serves mechanically tostrengthen the, bottom edge of the cover, allows better hinge r"construction and also admits of the outside of that edge of the coverbeing given the rounded corner eflect that is now generally .desired onsuch cases.

While I have thus pointed out the advantages that make the slantingsideithe most practical and the preferred form, it will beunderstood'that my invention is not limited in its application to alcasey so cut on the bias but that asf/shown in several of the claims myinvention broadly can be applied .*o a hand-carrying case without regardto whether vthe cover and body are cut`on the bias. J

What I 'claim as new arfd desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a wardrobe suitcase, or the like the' combination of a boxlikecase slanting to be higher. at one side; than at the opposite side andprovided Vwith a `partition spaced from the back higher side of the caseand forming a well, a flanged cover hinged to the free edge of the highside oflthe case and having its flanges reversely, slanted relative tothe sides of the case to form a rectangular box, a. clothes rackhaving-vA its inner ends pivotally mounted within the upper cornerstangular box, a clothes rack havingits inner ends pivotally mountedwithin the upper Corners of the cover and adapted to bo swungtherewithin or extended downwardly. xwithout the cover over the well anda remov- V able clothes rod connectfiig the'free ends of .'35

the clothes rack.

3. In a wardrobe suitcase, or'the like the combination of a box-likecase slanting to behigher at oneside than at` the opposite edgeaof thehigh side. of the case.

side and provided ,with a partition spaced from the back higher side ofthe case and forming a well, a flanged cover hinged to the free 'edge ofthe high side of the case and having its flanges reverselyslantedrelaltive t`o. the sides. of the case to form a rectan- Agular'box, a clothes rack having its inner 'ends pivotally mountedwithin the upper corners of the cover and adapted to` .be swungtherewithin or extended downwardly without "the cover over the well anda`non-rota'table clothes rod connecting the free ends of the clothesrack.

4. In a hand-carrying case, thecombina-V tion 'of a box-like body, acover hinged thereto, a partition in the body forming a well in the bodybeneath the raised cover and at a. right angle to the cover whenthe caseis closed, a clothes rack movably mounted near the free end of the'cover. and having a trans- Vversely extendingclothes rod supported insaid rack, `said rack being adapted to be moved ,so as to hold saidfrodfarther from said cover for foldinrr the clothes thereover with theirends extehding down into said wellf and said rack being adapted to b'e'moved back to carry said rod nearer the` cover and means for holdingthe clothes opposite the cover towards the said cover.

5. In a hand-carrying case, the combinationlof a box-like body, a coverhinged thereto, a partition in the body forming a well in the bodybeneath the raised cover and at a right angle to the cover when the caseis closed, a transversely extending clothessupporting rod extendablymounted in the free end of the cover wherebyr the rod whenI mov-ed awayfrom the cover may have full'v a ``length dresses folded thereover withtheir depending ends extending down into the well and whereby the rodand'the clothes thereon may be moved c-loser towards the cover, andmeans for holding the clothes opposite the cover towards said cover.

6. In a wardrobe suitcase, or the like, the combination of a box-likecase slanting to be higher at one side than at the opposite side andprovided with a partition spaced from the back higher side of the 'caseand forming a well on one side and a space for wearing apparel on theother side, a flanged cover hinged to the free edge of the high side ofthe case and having its flanges reversely slanted relative to the sidesof the case to form a rectangular box, and transverse supporting meansadapted to have a garment folded thereover, whereby the lower end of thegarment may be received in the well, said supporting means beingremovably and replaceably mounted in the upper end of the cover.

In Witness whereof I have affixed my signature, this 27th day of July,1927.

ALBERT W. WINSHIP.

1,728,223. Albert W. Wnsh'ip, Utica, N. Y'. WARDROB HA'i'Box. Patentdated September 17, 1929. Disclaimer filed May 4, 1932, by the patentee.

is in the followin Wordsl to-wit:

4. In a hand-gcarrying case? the combination of a box-hke body, a coverhinged Hereby enters 'this disclaimer to that part of the claiins insaid specification which A thereto, a' partition in the body forming aWell in the body beneath the raised cover and at a right angle to thecover When the case is closed, a clothes rack movably mounted near thefree end of the cover and havmg a transversely extendmg clothes rodsupported iii said rack, said rack being adapted to be moved so as tohold said rod f arther from said cover for folding the clothes thereoverwith their ends extendmg down into said Well and said rack being adaptedto be moved back to carry said rod said cover.

5. In a hand-carrying case, theV combination of a boX-hke body, a coverhinged thereto, a partition in the body forming a Well m the bodybeneath the raised cover and at a right angle to the cover when the caseis closed, a transversely extending clothes-supporting rod extendablymounted m the free end of the cover Whereby the rod When moved away fromthe cover may have full length dresses folded thereover with theirdepending ends extending down into the well and whereby the rod and Vtheclothes thereon may be moved closer towards the cover, and means forholding the clothes opposite theS cover towards said cover. t o i' 6. Ina Wardrobe suitcase, or the like the combmatioii of a box-like caseslantmg, to be higher at one side than at the opposite side and providedwith a partition spaced nearer the cover and means/for holding theclothes opposite the cover towards the i from the back higher side ofthe case and forming a well on one side and a space for wearing apparelon the other side, a flanged cover hinged to the free edge of the highside of the case and having its flanges rev'ersely slanted relative tothe sides of the case to forma rectangular box, and transvei'sesupportmg means adapted to have a garment folded thereover, whereby thelower end of the garment may be received m the Well, said supportingmeans being removably and replaceably mounted m the upper end of thecover.

[O flcal Gazette May 24, 1 932.1)

